Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against The Co-operative Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Ms B and Mr S complained that The Co-operative Bank PLC transferred their personal data to lender B without consent after they repaid their mortgage in September 2025. The Co-op initially suggested in its final response that data had been transferred and subsequently deleted, but later clarified that the mortgage was not transferred because the account was closed before the transfer date. The ombudsman found on the balance of probabilities that no data transfer occurred, supported by lender B's confirmation of having no record of the mortgage and the wider circumstances. Although The Co-op's final response was incorrect and caused some inconvenience requiring multiple calls from Ms B, the ombudsman upheld the £75 compensation as fair and reasonable and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found on the balance of probabilities that Ms B and Mr S's mortgage was not transferred to lender B because the account was fully closed before the transfer took place on 12-13 October 2025. The wider circumstances supported this conclusion: the transfer letter stated it would happen 'in the coming weeks' (not that it had happened), lender B had no record of the account, and no welcome letter was received. Even if data had been transferred, there was no evidence of loss or misuse, and lender B is a regulated bank making misuse unlikely. The Co-op's final response was incorrect and unhelpful, but it did provide the assurance Ms B sought about account closure and data deletion.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website